


Out Among the Stars, A Destiny

by Team_Two_Cats



Category: Suikoden, Suikoden III
Genre: Angst, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mech Suit AU, Mecha
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2020-12-16 14:27:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21037706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Team_Two_Cats/pseuds/Team_Two_Cats
Summary: Hugo just wants to race his suit through the asteroid fields surrounding his home (and maybe work up the courage to flirt with Jimba a bit). He certainly doesn't want to be pulled into a galactic conflict that puts the entire sector on the brink of war.Chris doesn't think the deaths of her former commanders is the coincidence everyone insists on. There's something rotten in the Zexen senate, but a looming war threatens to make investigating it impossible.Geddoe is older than he looks (and he doesn't really look young any more), but his long years of waiting might finally be at an end. Whether that's for good or bad, even he can't say.*Hugo Chapter 1 complete*Tags will be updated as they appear





	1. Hugo ch1, pt 1: Home Is Where You Park Your Mech Suit

**Author's Note:**

> Basically a retelling of Suikoden III but in space, with mech suits, and everyone's gay. You're welcome?

There is no wind to feel in space, just the rush of lights along his peripheral vision, the whine of homemade proximity sensors scolding _too close, too close _as he weaves through the asteroid field. Home is a warm hearth and the sound of voices, is the smell of Luce’s cooking and the deadly power of his mother’s laugh. Home is Karaya, moon lush and ripe with promise. But there is part of Hugo that can’t deny that this, too, the dead calm of space, breakneck shock of barely-dodged rock, this feels like home as well. He suit struggles to keep up with the speed of his commands, but as the chief’s son, if he wasn’t up to modding his suit to run an asteroid field at top speed, he wasn’t doing his duty to his mother or people.

He clears the rest of the field and sights Karaya, lays in a burn to return to base and all the waiting things he never seems to have time for.

Sgt. Joe and Fubar are waiting for him in the hanger, Joe no doubt trying to impact some of his wisdom to a captive audience. Fubar, bred of strange celestial beings who can fly the void without mechanical aid, doesn’t particularly like to condense down small enough to explore the planet, though they can. Most days now Fubar prowls the space around Karaya, hunting down any monsters that drift in from the black that might threaten their adopted people. Hugo’s mom found Fubar when they were just a small thing, no larger than a dog, wounded and grounded on Karaya. Rather than slay them, Lucia decided to nurse them back to health, and was rewarded by a fierce loyalty backed by a body that now towered over the other suits at the base.

“Hugo,” Joe says, waving as Hugo runs through power down as quickly as possible and slips from the cockpit of the suit. “Tell this bag of space feathers that Duck Clan vessels and suits are _not_to be harassed in transit. My chief has been in my ear all day about jittery pilots certain that the beyond was reaching out to end them at the tips of talons that can rend the flesh of stars.”

Hugo rolls his eyes. Old argument. He adopts a mock authoritarian stance and glares at Fubar. “Friends _are not food_, buddy.”

Fubar gives an indignant shriek and turns their head away as if they don’t want to pay attention.

Hugo shrugs. “You see how it is, Sergeant. Besides, can you really blame him. You _look _appetizing, after all.”

Joe’s beak snaps with a vicious clack. “Just because I look like a festival day goose doesn’t mean I won’t melt your face with a laser halberd, bird-brain.”

Fubar gives a small dismissive squawk and leaps up into the sky, leaving them both behind.

“Just as well,” Joe says, falling in beside Hugo. “I heard a rumor that Luce is putting out quite the spread tonight. Something about a big announcement Lucia wanted to make. I hope she’s making those little sweet dough things with the almonds and honey and—“

Hugo doesn’t have to try to tune him out. At the mention of dinner at Luce’s it’s not food that Hugo finds himself thinking about.

“Is…uh…is Jimba going to be there?” Hugo asks.

Joe shrugs. “I mean, he _lives there_, right? So…probably. Though you can ask him yourself.”

Joe lifts a wing to indicate where a man works buffing an old Zexen knight class suit. Shirtless and glistening with sweat and oil, Jimba hangs over one of the suit’s arms to get at some of the harder to reach places. Hugo tries not to drool. The man is ripped, tanned from time out working the fields, and has a smile that could melt the polar ice caps. Blond, mysterious, and hot as hell.

“Hey Jimba, you going to be at dinner?” Joe asks, and Hugo nearly tackles him to shut him up.

“What are you doing?” Hugo hisses.

But Joe gives a smile only a duck can make. It’s like he enjoys watching Hugo squirm. The monster.

“Oh, hi Sergeant,” Jimba says, waiving and somehow keeping his balance while doing so. “And Hugo, I followed some of that last run you did on the sensors. You’ll be running laps around everyone at the next festival race.”

Hugo feels himself flush, hopes that Jimba can’t tell over the distance. “I…uh…not really,” he manages, but then Jimba is slinging down, muscles tensing and releasing as he works down the body of his suit.

“Definitely!” Jimba says and he reaches the ground and strides over to them. “I’ve not seen anyone that fast since…” And there’s that look he gets, like he’s spotting something on long range scans. Like he’s back somewhere that no one else can reach. And then he’s back. “...well, in a very long time.”

He always says things like that despite not being more than, what, twenty five? Thirty? It might be a little old compared to Hugo’s eighteen (and his mother would probably tell him it was _very old _compared to that), but it isn’t like he has Beecham’s years. Still, the praise stirs up something dangerous in Hugo’s chest. A desire to do more than just ogle Jimba’s body. After all, Hugo is a man now, had been initiated at the rites at the last festival with Alia and the others. He wants to say something, to…to flirt a little. He sees how his mother uses it when she wants to, how much a weapon it can be, and how much fun.

But flirting has always been beyond him. He tells himself that it’s not because he’s afraid his mother won’t like that most of the people he finds himself…distracted by are other men. But he’s eighteen and the most he’s done is make out with Lulu, his best friend and Jimba’s younger brother, more for practice than because they really thought about each other that way.

He opens his mouth to say something…closes it again. Jimba claps him on the should and together they walk out of the hangars and towards home. And Hugo tries not to get to hard thinking about the proximity of Jimba’s body, the casual way he didn’t think to put a shirt back on, the way the muscles of his stomach seem to trail effortlessly down into the waist of his pants, which are just the slightest bit loose. Spirits preserve him.


	2. Hugo ch1, pt2: A Meal, a Promise, a(n) (e)Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucia gives Hugo a mission—to deliver a message to the Zen capital. It will be his first time away from home, though he'll have some friends to keep him company. Will the new sense of importance give him the courage to take a chance with Jimba, though?

Lucia is tense at dinner, like there’s a storm cloud behind the brown skin of her face. She frowns at Sgt. Joe eating all the curry, frowns at Lulu laughing too loud at Joe’s jokes, frowns at the way my eyes keep stealing glances over at Jimba, who seems completely in his element amid the chaos of the meal. Finally, once everyone has leaned back from the table, she gets to business.

“I’m sending you to Vinay del Zexay.” It comes out like she’s pronouncing a punishment, but Hugo’s heart leaps into his throat at the news and he almost wants to shout with excitement. A mission? To the capital of Zexen?

“And before you get yourself riled for nothing, it’s a _diplomatic _mission. We need to firm up the terms of our last treaty before some recent…trends get out of hand.”

“Is this about those rumors about the frontier moons near the border?” Jimba asks, and Lucia shoots him a glare.

“Never mind the reasons,” she says. “If I wanted to go and negotiate something now I’d go myself. But like hell I’m letting those arrogant Zexen fools feel like I’ll jump every time they start pushing our boundaries. We need a measured response. An official message should do the trick.”

“Hey no fair, how come Hugo gets to go?” Lulu asks, crossing his arms in a pout. At sixteen he’s still not quite ready for the initiation rites, and he’s been increasingly moody since Hugo went through them.

“Because Hugo is the son of the chief,” Luce says, aiming one raised eyebrow at her son.

“But—“

“No buts,” Luce says. “You’re not needed for the mission. And if you’re going to be angry about then, then I definitely won’t let you go along with.”

Lulu’s eyes brighten. “You mean—“

Luce chuckles. “Only if Hugo agrees to it. You’ll be his responsibility, after all.”

Lulu turns to Hugo, something like hope and lust and joy all running through his face at once. And of course Hugo can’t say no.

“I assume it’s not going to be just the two of us?”

“Spirits no,” Lucia says as Lulu does a little seated dance at the implied permission. “If I wanted an interstellar incident, maybe. But no, I assume I can rely on the Sergeant to keep you both out of trouble. Along with Fubar, for some added protection.”

Hugo nods, trying not to grin too much. A mission. To the capital of Zexen. Regardless that Joe will effectively be his chaperone, it feels like the sky has just opened up. Like there’s suddenly nothing but space between him and something big, and all he needs to do is apply his thrusters to feel that freedom wrap around him like a shadow.

“I’d be honored,” he manages, and is rewarded by an approving nod from his mother.

“It’s about time you see the galaxy beyond Karaya. I realize you haven’t even seen all the clan worlds, and perhaps that’s my fault.” There’s something she doesn’t say, something that Hugo wants to ask about. The question that has hung between them for so long, even though Hugo has no complaints about how he’s been raised. He’s never wanted for teaching or love. But he has been curious, and still is, at the hurt he sees steal into Lucia’s eyes at times, the way she seems to want to protect him more, when in battle and diplomacy she has a reputation at taking chances. It has to do with his father, Hugo knows, but doesn’t let himself ask, not now. But he sees it, that when she looks at him she’s also seeing the reflection of someone else. Someone dead? Alive? Distant? Closer than he’d think?

“But you’re a man now,” she continues, “and you might lead the clan yourself one day. It’s time you started making friends…and enemies.”

Hugo nods, and lets the conversation and excitement move around him. It almost doesn’t feel real. They set a departure time and then Lucia and Luce retire, and Sgt. Joe moves to a set of cushions to “recover from the feast,” leaving Hugo with Lulu and Jimba and a whole jug of wine. It’s not long before Lulu is passed out on the table and Hugo is staring into Jimba’s eyes.

“So…why aren’t you coming along on this mission?” Hugo asks. Not that he’s complaining, exactly. But the thought of what might happen on the long nights between worlds, their suits connected to share warmth and resources… Well, it seemed almost a shame they’d be missing out on Jimba’s… expertise. “I mean, you have experience in Zexen, right? What with your suit and all?”

Jimba coughs a bit into his wine before recovering. “I… I don’t want to cramp your style,” he says. “You’ll have enough of that from Joe, believe me.”

They laugh, and the win must finally be working because Hugo says, “Yeah, but I wouldn’t mind if it was _you _cramping my style.”

Jimba gives an easy smile like it’s the most normal thing to say, like it’s not what Hugo’s been wanting to say for years now, and especially since he passed his rites. But something about his intent pings off Jimba’s armor.

“There _is _something you could do for me, though,” Jimba says.

Hugo’s mind races with the possibility that maybe Jimba is going to lean over, press their lips together. That maybe he’ll admit that he’s always admired Hugo, too, that he’s glad they can finally be equals, men, so that they don’t have to hold back any longer. Maybe…

Jimba reaches down to his pants and Hugo’s mouth goes instantly dry. He can’t help but gape as Jimba slides a hand into the band of his pants. Is he…would he really just pull it out right there? Hugo stops himself from helping, caught between fear and desperate want as Jimba pulls out…a metal circle from what must have been an inner pocket in his pants.

“I…uh…could you deliver this?” he asks, holding out the metal disc.

Hugo hopes his disappointment isn’t too obvious, and he quickly hides his expression by taking another drink of wine. And another. Finally when his heart has calmed some, he takes the disc, which is inscribed with strange symbols, though not unfamiliar ones.

“This is…Zexen?” he asks, and Jimba nods.

“It’s a crest. They…the Zexen, that is, they are a little nobility crazy. The crest is…well, it’s a status symbol. Knights use them in duels, and…and this one is from a family called Lightfellow. I’d like you to return it to them.”

Hugo holds it up to the light, catches the glimmer of light off it. It’s not just decorative—he’s sure there’s tech in it as well, though what it might do he doesn’t know.

“How’d you get it?” he asks.

For a minute Jimba doesn’t say anything, and the only noise is the snoring from both Lulu at the table and Joe from the cushions, where he must have fallen asleep in a post-gorge food coma.

“It belonged to a man who died. You can tell the family…if you could, please tell that he died heroically. That…should soften the blow.”

“How would it matter how he died?” Hugo asks. “Dead is dead.”

Jimba barks a laugh and the noise makes Hugo wince. There’s no humor in it, just hurt and something else.

“Zexens have some…interesting notions about death and honor. They’re good people, mostly. But…some of them are a little strange.” And now he looks up into Hugo’s eyes. “You must be careful out there. You must… I mean…”

Jimba stands hurriedly, nearly tumbling to the floor, but he rights himself and gives Hugo a terse nod. “Go well, Hugo. Spirits be with you.”

And without that he passes through the tent flap to the outside and is gone.

Hugo watches the breeze move the fabric of the flap for a while as if his will alone could bring Jimba back. He debates going out and seeing if he could track him down, but shakes the thought away. He has a mission in the morning. A chance to prove himself to his mother and Joe and himself. And maybe to Jimba, too. He leaves the others were they are retreats to Lulu’s room, which doubles as his own when he doesn’t feel like walking home. As the wine begins to drag him down into sleep, he quietly masturbates while thinking about what else Jimba has hidden down his pants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has to be way weird for Jimba, but I definitely don't see how Hugo couldn't have the biggest crush on his best friends hot older brother. Seriously. Otherwise, this is going a bit slower than I expected. Who knows how long it will end up being? Probably I'll skip some of the stuff in his chapter 1, like the Saint Loa Knights bits. Maybe? Though maybe not. Hmm... If people have thoughts, feel free to let me know.


	3. Hugo ch1, pt3: Through the Castle Gates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Away from home of the first time, Hugo has to deliver a message to the heart of what might be enemy territory, hoping for a fragile peace to protect him. If he spends all his time worrying about the Zexen knights, though, he might miss a very different kind of danger from his own traveling companions.

The space between worlds is home to a number of minor horrors—creatures that live in the void and feed off anything foolish enough to wander too far from a terrestrial foothold. And while ships are decent for snuffing out the creepy crawlers that come in from the dark, suits have much more maneuverability, a vital advantage when some of things are slimes or lightning-quick “cut bunnies” that ride the invisible radiation eddies between stars.

Still, Hugo is no novice when it comes to hunting in the void, and his suit, though homemade, cuts just fine, thanks. Plus, Fubar has a tendency to wrap their protoplasmic body around his suit at times, acting as extension and shield, effectively doubling his lethality. Lulu is suitable jealous, Joe annoyingly cautious.

Because it’s space! A mission worthy of a man, of the son of the clan chief! He wanted to burn the dark between Karaya and Vinay del Zexay like a comet. In the rush of _going_ he could forget about what a mess he was when he was standing still. Give him a spot on the horizon and he would run toward it, fly to it. Just don’t ask what he’d do after he got there. That was futureHugo’s problem.

The void flash with heat as Hugo sliced through a space boar, sending purple ichor splattering in all directions.

“You know you could try, I don’t know, burning it or something, you know?” Lulu complains, hovering there, his suit covered in sticky gore.

Hugo weaves the huge, curved knife his suit carries through the space between them a bit before slipping it back into its sheath.

“I thought Sgt. Joe was the old man in the group,” Hugo shoots back, and laughs as both Lulu and Joe begin berating him at once. He punches a burn, expects them to chase him, but stops short when a proximity alert lights up his controls.

“Unknown pilot, this is Brass Castle,” comes a voice through the comm. “Reduce speed and observe all rules and regulations for docking and disembarking. This is Zexen space.”

The words are a bark, a warning, and the first thing Hugo wants to do is bark back, growl, thumb his nose at whatever rules and regulations he’s supposed to follow. But he takes a deep breath, and remembers both Sgt. Joe right behind him and his mother, much farther away, who was nonetheless the real reason he throttled down and started briefing the stream of documents detailing what he could and could not do on Brass Castle.

“Acknowledged,” he says, and Joe and Lulu catch up to him, adding their voices to his own.

They queue, and Hugo transmits his intentions and credentials—having a mother who’s also a head of state might have its perks, but the Zexen don’t seem impressed, instructing them to wait in the general line for inspection.

He has to admit, as they come closer and closer, that it’s impressive. The structure hangs in space like a shadow, its walls black and absorbing whatever solar energy it can. And behind it, the blazing light of the Gate. The bit of ancient tech that the Zexen have wrapped a space station around. That allows near instantaneous travel around the galaxy. So really Brass Castle is really Brass Castles, one on this side of the gate, and another on the Zexen side. It’s Hugo’s first time seeing this piece of tech. Not that there aren’t other Gates around. A long (and much more dangerous) route in the opposite direction from Zexen leads to Caleria, where the Harmonians have one as well.

“What does it feel like?” Lulu asks as they wait. It’s the question Hugo himself can’t bring himself to ask, because it sounds…childish. Young.

“Not like much,” Joe says. He’s been through a few, during his time in the Duck army. He’s been as far as Toran. For Hugo, who hasn’t even been to the Lizards’ Great Hollow world, it sounds like a dream.

“One minute you’re here,” Joe continues. ‘The next, you’re there. There’s a bit of lurching feeling and some people get sick after. Only a very small amount of people actually physically invert, though.”

Hugo shakes his head.

“Wait, what?!” Lulu asks.

“Yeah, some people get sick from the transport. And some…well, they end up inside out. But it’s very rare. Nothing to worry about.”

“You’re making that up? He’s making that up, right, Hugo? You_have_ to be making that up.”

The laughter helps the time pass, and eventually they are inside, walking their suits for once in the strange artificial gravity that the station creates. Most people are suited in the huge space of the central corridor, though business on either side bustles at human size. There’s so many people, so much to see, that Hugo doesn’t notice anything about to happen until Lulu curses and sprawls down onto the floor, suit clanging against the metal walkway.

Hugo looks over to see a Zexen suit standing there, shining and new, though a squire class. It’s impossible to miss the surprise of the pilot, even with the lack of facial expression on the suit. They reach out toward Lulu.

“I’m so sorry,” they say, and Hugo pings their ID, sees the suit belongs to a boy the same age as Lulu, named Louis.

“I’m sure you are,” Lulu says.

Hugo can hear the embarrassment and anger in his voice, and he steps closer, wanting to stop him from escalating things, but he can’t stop Lulu from running his mouth.

“Probably just get off on the sight of a Grasslander on his back,” Lulu says.

Hugo’s pretty sure if a suit could blush, they’d be seeing it right then.

“I apologize for my squire,” a new voice enters, and Hugo turns to see four more suits standing there. Big, knight class suits, freshly polished. Borus. Salome. Chris. Roland. He almost misses the crucial detail. The third name, the one who just spoke. Chris. Chris Lightfellow. Well shit, this is going to be easier than he thought.

Lulu stands, refusing the outstretched hand of the squire.

“Yeah, well, wouldn’t expect different from Ironheads,” Lulu says, and this time Sgt. Joe steps forward between him and the knights.

“What he means to say,” Joe says, “is that it’s no problem.”

The knights all stare.

“Excuse me,” Hugo says, hoping to break the tense silence. “But are you Chris Lightfellow? I have som—“

One of the knights moves. Roland, Hugo thinks. It’s smooth and aggressive, and Hugo cuts off and slides himself back into a defensive posture.

“Perhaps you don’t realize that this is Zexen territory, _boy_,” Roland says. “We decide who lives, who dies, and who _speaks_. So you and the rest of your…cohorts shall stand aside and remain silent.”

He turns and gives a nod to the rest of the knights, who in turn look to Chris, who must be their leader. For a moment she is still, as if debating what to do, and Hugo is tempted to speak anyway and save himself a trip once he reaches Vinay del Zexay.

“Right,” she says. “Again, my apologies.” And then she leaves, the rest of the knights behind her, and the little squire last of all, going so far as to bow before running after his friends.

“Lulu!” Joe shouts when the knights are gone. “You have to be careful! You can’t go around calling every Zexen Ironhead to their faces.”

“Like they don’t all call us Grassies,” Lulu responds. “Just because we live planetside and they prefer their floating bullshit stations.”

“That’s not the point,” Joe says. “They might all be bigoted assholes, yes, but that doesn’t mean you should mouth off to them _more_. Just think about it. If they decided to throw you in the brig. Confiscate your suit. Even push you out the nearest airlock naked. What do you think we could do about it?”

Lulu crossed his arms over his chest, his suit the picture of a sulk. Hugo glanced around, noticed that many of the people were now staring at them all.

“Uh…maybe we can discuss this later?” he asks, and behind them, Fubar gives a screech, causing most of the people there to flinch. Oh right, giant space monster. Probably new to some people. Shit.

They hurry on, each carrying on their part of the argument in their head, replaying what had just happened, wondering what would go wrong next.

Only the trip to the capital is largely uneventful. They meet a strange knight and his squire along the way, but they aren’t Zexen, and Hugo can’t find it in himself to care about some sort of quest for justice and good and blah blah blah.

Vinay del Zexay is, of course, even more impressive than Brass Castle, looking almost like a small moon, the city sprawling through interconnected asteroids. They decide to leave Fubar outside to hunt on his own (and not Zexens, either), given their reception at Brass Castle. Hugo sends the others to secure lodgings while he brings up the city directory and finds out where the Lightfellow estate is. Despite the dirty look he gets from the butler, he delivers Jimba’s crest, glad to be rid of it. The only reason he didn’t hurl it into the sun is because he wants Jimba to see that he did a good job. Maybe deserves a reward? A date? Something more? Hugo lets his mind wander. When he arrives at the inn he docks his suit and finds Joe already asleep in their room, Lulu sprawled on the bed, eyes on the ceiling.

Hugo doesn’t hesitate, just flings himself into bed next to Lulu. Two friends, away in the big city, it’s easy to feel young again, and it’s like a part of the stiffness that has cropped up between them since Hugo went through his rites eases. They chuckle from the sheer energy flowing through them, the excitement of being _somewhere_. They don’t need to talk, and for a while they just look at the dull ceiling, feeling the pull of home from so far away it might as well be a solar wind cast out by a dead star.

“Sorry,” Lulu says at last. “About what happened at the Castle. I…”

“You don’t have to explain,” Hugo says. He knows Lulu is eager for his own rites, his own official emergence into adulthood. Perhaps a bit too eager, and perhaps Hugo is to blame for making such a big deal of it.

“I just…I couldn’t stand them looking down on me.”

Hugo snorts. “Well, I mean, that’s gonna be rough then, seeing as how you’re so short.”

Lulu springs, fingers finding Hugo’s sides.

“Hey! N-no fair, tickling!” Hugo tries to roll away but Lulu doesn’t let him, and he’s breathless, laughing, feeling like a kid ag—

And then Lulu’s lips are pressing into his and Hugo’s eyes shoot wide and fast. What? A million thoughts fly at lightspeed through his mind. He didn’t, this isn’t…why does it feel good? His traitor body reacts almost instantly to Lulu’s mouth, to the hands now touching him in a way that is definitely not ticklish. But he doesn’t even think of Lulu in that way! Yes, they’d messed around a bit in the past, but just to practice. Never… oh spirits.

Finally Hugo manages to gain control of his body and puts his hands on Lulu’s shoulders, pushes him back, their lips separating with a light pop.

“Lu, what are you doing?” Hugo asks.

And he sees Lulu searching his eyes, his face, for…something. For some reflection of the feelings that he must be feeling. Oh spirits, how did Hugo never notice? Lulu’s face flushes as red as his hair and he recoils hard, standing, backing away from the bed.

“I…I mean,” he tries, but he can’t seem to get the words to form.

Hugo wants to reach out, reassure him, tell him that it’s okay, but…

“I’m sorry!” Lulu shouts, and bolts out of the room.

Hugo knows he should follow, but something stops him. He doesn’t want to upset Lulu further, doesn’t want to hurt him. And…he wants to process this. What just happened?

As if on cue Joe starts up from his sleep and looks around.

“Hi Hugo,” he says. “Where’s Lulu?”

Hugo just lets himself collapse back onto the bed, eyes once more on the same plain ceiling, which suddenly feels much more foreign and strange than it did a moment ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no. Well this is getting a bit more tragic than I was anticipating. But this covers from Karaya, through Brass Castle (and the first meeting of Hugo and Chris) and into Vinay del Zexay. Probably I will include the Saint Loa Knights, as that seems like a sweet queer relationship to explore, plus it will give more room for Hugo and Lulu to grapple with their emotions. 
> 
> Stars seen: Hugo, Sgt. Joe, Fubar, Chris, Salome, Borus, Roland, Louis  
Stars alluded to: Fred (and Rico I guess)


	4. Hugo ch1, pt4: Fighting for Saint Loa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hugo has some time to burn before he'll be granted his audience with the Zexen Council, and when he meets some young people in trouble, he decides to get involved, if for no other reason than to avoid all the awkward time alone with Lulu...

Mostly they just don’t talk about it. Not when Lulu slinks back in the morning, having slept the night in his suit. Not when they make their way to the Council complex and wait ages for the bureaucratic wheels to turn. Not as Sgt. Joe regales them with stories of his times abroad (which are mostly about the food he ate, though a little bit about military whatnot). Not even as they are told that their audience has been scheduled for two days later and they’ll just have to bugger off until then. They don’t really speak until they stumble upon a creepy scene outside their inn where a rather pedo-looking guy was picking on a boy, making him cry, and both Hugo and Lulu decided at once that it was the perfect distraction.

Which explains why they’re on the dark side of an orphan moon, fighting bandits in beat up suits, playing chaperone to the Saint Loa Knights, whatever that means. Which at least beats spending two days in awkward silence back in their room. Plus, well, Alanis and Melville and Elliot are just so freakin’ cute.

They sit around a campfire inside the makeshift atmo field in the interior of one of the asteroids. Sgt. Joe is already asleep. Hugo and Lulu stay up with the “knights,” none of them calm enough to sleep.

“My dad says people will call me a slut if I talk about my two boyfriends,” Alanis says.

Hugo flinches, knowing that particular worry easy enough. Even across the gulfs of their cultures, some bullshit seems to remain the same.

“I try and explain that I’m ace, but he just says it means I haven’t found the right man, yet. Which makes _no sense_! How can I be too slutty and…not slutty enough all at the same time?”

Elliot puts a hand on her shoulder, and Melville leans against her from the other side.

“We’ll figure this out,” Melville says.

“We have to,” Elliot adds.

Alanis grows quiet, and the conversation dies as they move off to their sleeping bag, cuddling together against the cold of the asteroid.

Hugo slips away, moves to the edge of the atmo field, staring through the shimmer to the cavern beyond, the thin sliver of starry void visible through the tunnel to the surface.

“I guess I was wrong about all ironheads being assholes,” Lulu says, suddenly there, behind him. “Those kids are all right.”

Hugo flinches. He didn’t…he didn’t hear Lulu approach. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath. “Those kids are maybe a year younger than you.”

Lulu huffs. “And I’m only two years younger than you.”

Which isn’t wrong. And the fact that he could approach Hugo unheard is a reminder both that Hugo isn’t as good as he might want to be…and that Lulu is better than Hugo gives him credit for. But…they’ve always been friends. Confidants. Brothers. He isn’t…but then he thinks of Jimba, of the way he feels about him, and he turns to see what must be a reflection of that in Lulu’s eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Hugo says. “I didn’t realize you felt…the way you do.”

Lulu closes the distance between them, body inches from Hugo’s.

“How, when we’ve kissed. When we’ve almost…” He reaches out, hands on Hugo’s chest, eyes closed, head leaning in, lips…

Hugo meets them, kisses Lulu deeply. His arms wrap around Lulu’s shoulders, pulling him into an embrace. It’s like the times they’ve kissed before—awkward, unsure, but it’s also different, and Hugo feels a heat rise in him in a way it hasn’t before.

He pulls away, breaking the kiss, and Lulu gives a wordless protest, a groan that asks for this continue. But…

“We can’t, Lu,” he says. “Not here, now.” He glances back at the sleeping Saint Loa Knights and Sgt. Joe. “We have to see this thing through first.

“But after?” Lulu asks.

Hugo swallows. Again he thinks of Jimba, the man he’s been fantasizing about since he was old enough to be turned on. The reason he knew immediately he preferred men. But he looks down into Lulu’s eyes, and he feels something there he can’t deny. Something he doesn’t want to just dismiss.

“After,” he says. “After. We see where it goes. Slowly. I…don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

It’s not like people didn’t have relationships around the time of their rites. It isn’t forbidden, but it also isn’t exactly smiled upon for older people to…target those who haven’t been named. Not that he was targeting—Hugo internally growls. When did this all get so complicated?

“I’m not a kid,” Lulu says. “You don’t have to worry so much ab—”

A loud squawk from the camp makes them both jump and they look over to see Sgt. Joe grumble and roll over in his sleep, apparently dreaming. Hugo sighs, realizes that he’s pulled his hands away, that suddenly there’s distance between him and Lulu.

“Ah…maybe we should talk about this later. We both need to get some sleep.”

Lulu opens him mouth, closes it. There’s a sliver of hurt in his expression and Hugo feels guilt cut through him but doesn’t reach back out. His emotions are flipping in his chest, banging against the walls of his skull. He needs time to figure out…what is going on. He turns, walks back to his sleeping roll, and struggles through a fitful sleep.

In the morning they push further into the asteroids. Melville explains that his father is a treasure hunter, that he says he found something in here, a ship that’s probably worth a bunch in salvage. Hugo doesn’t want to say anything about absent fathers, so he just nods along.

As they press deeper into the belt, though, they start to see signs that they might not be alone.

“Not sure I like the look of this,” Sgt. Joe says as they drift from asteroid to asteroid. The “knights” don’t exactly have the most advanced suit, and while Joe, Lulu, and Hugo all have decent suits given the Karaya resources, they don’t have Fubar, who’s still off hunting. This was supposed to be just a babysitting mission. There was no reason to expect that—

“Incoming!” Sgt. Joe shouts, and Hugo’s censors scream a minute before the two other suits descend from behind a nearby asteroid. Their configuration is Zexen, but neither the shoddy work of Alanis and her friends nor the polished sheen of the actual Zexen Knights.

Hugo dodges a brutal sweep of the mech’s close-range knife, counters with some brutality of his own. Here, finally, the complexity of his feelings, of Lulu, of Jimba, of all of it just melt away. There is only the suit in front of him, the need to protect the Saint Loa Knights, and the deep desire to take out some of his anger at how he’s been treated by the Zexen.

“Come on, you little savage!” the other suit’s pilot taunts over the comm.

Hugo smiles. That makes any decision of whether to hold back much simpler. He pushes forward, sliding under another attack, catching the enemy suit with his curved dagger in the joint on the armpit. With a twist the whole arm busts free, metal bending and sheering, hydraulic fluid spilling into the dark.

The suit’s knife arm is still intact, though, and swinging. Hugo deflects it, and this time buries his knife in the suit’s neck. He doesn’t twist, doesn’t have to. All the connections between the pilot and the suit’s central processors are severed, and the whole thing seizes, goes still.

Hugo pulls his attention away, hoping for another enemy, but finds that Sgt. Joe has made short work of that with his suit’s poleaxe.

The heat of battle dropping, Hugo examines the enemy suits. Definitely not official. There’s patchwork and mods that no military would condone.

“Smugglers,” Joe says, drifting closer to Hugo. “Not poor, but they don’t look like the most professional outfit. I’d guess the belt is a drop point. It would allow certain foreign merchants the ability to get close without necessarily tripping the sensors at Vinay del Zexey. The smugglers then pick it up, bring it into the city through some back doors.

“Guillaume!” Melville shouts. “That must be why he was so interested in the area, and so against our checking it out. Maybe that’s what my father discovered here. Maybe…maybe Guillaume…”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Sgt. Joe says. “If Guillaume is that creepy guy from before, then yeah, this might be his outfit. It looks like it’s about what he could afford. But there’s nothing to suggest he had anything to do with your dad. And if we press further, we’re going to risk running into more serious trouble.”

“We have to go on! My dad!”

Alanis and Elliot both move closer, offering the comfort of their nearness. Hugo hums to himself. He’s supposed to be over being curious about his own father, but he wonders now, if he thought his dad was just around the corner, if maybe there’d be a _good reason_ for the absence, for the silence…

“Let’s keep going,” Hugo says. “This Guillaume seems like a creep that needs to be put in his place, or else he’s just going to try and get at Melville and the others some different way. Especially now that we’ve engaged the smugglers, there’s no keeping this entirely quiet. We either finish this now, or it’s going to come back to haunt us.”

Joe huffs. “I hate it when you’re right.”

“Lu, you still good?” Hugo asks.

“I’ll follow you anywhere,” he says, and if that sends a small thrill and fear through Hugo’s chest, he does his best to ignore it.

“Then we go on.”

The resistance is steady, but nothing they can’t handle. Even Melville and Alanis prove to be a good team, though Elliot stays back, playing mostly a support role. They press deeper, and deeper.

“Seems like we’re coming to something big,” Joe says.

Hugo can see it on his scans, too. A ship.

“Just like my dad said!” Melville says. “He was telling the truth. M-maybe he’s still here!”  
Melville speeds ahead, Elliot and Alanis right behind him.

“Wait!” Hugo calls, but it’s too late. One moment they’re sprinting forward, the next the space between Melville, Alanis, and Elliot shimmers with an energy barrier. Hugo curses, opens up a barrage against it, but it doesn’t so much as shiver.

“Ho Ho Ho Ho!” a voice breaks across their comms. That pervert from before. “I do seem to have caught some annoying flies in my web today.”

And then he rises into view from the old ship, in a suit that dwarfs those of the Saint Loa Knights.

“I can tell why his cohorts couldn’t afford decent suits, then,” Hugo mutters. He must have been hoarding all the money for himself to keep up that monster.

“Guillaume!” Melville shouts. “Give me back my father!”

“Your…?” Guillaume laughs. “My dear boy, I have nothing to do with your father. He left some time ago, headed for points unknown. All I did was listen to his boast about the derelict ship he found. I knew it’d be mostly worthless, much like your father himself, but I also figured he’d be too dense to realize the true potential of such a find.”

“Liar!” Melville yells.

“I assure you I am telling the truth. I found the ship he abandoned because it didn’t have anything of value he could pry from it. And it’s too badly damaged to fly or tow it out, or even to get it uncrashed from the asteroid. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be used for other things. As a handy drop point, for instance. And as a trap for the unwary. Because you see it’s wide shielding still works perfectly. And I’ve modified it so that nothing can penetrate it. Not going in or out. So you see, you’re stuck here. With me. And I’m going to enjoy having some fun with you.”

Hugo swears and hit the shield with his knife this time, but it still does nothing. If what the man said is true, then the only way to drop the shield is from the inside, from the ship itself. Which means…

“Melville, you can’t mean to fight him one on one, in a duel to decide this all,” Alanis says, horror lacing her voice.

“What?” Joe says, smacking the shield with his own weapon to no effect. “That’s a terrible idea!”

Melville seems confused a moment. “What? I didn’t—”

“It would be _suicide_,” Alanis says. “Please, don’t!”

Melville pauses again, and even across the distance, through the shield, Hugo can sense something unsaid move between them.

“He’s far too strong,” Elliot interjects. “We’ll find another way!”

“Enough!” Melville says. “I’ve made up my mind. Guillaume, face me! One on one. If I win, you have to let us go and tell me the location of my father. If we lose, they we’ll…we’ll give you our suits, and promise to work for you from now on.”

Guillaume seems to weight the request, and when he responds Hugo feels like he needs a bath with how loaded the words are.

“Oh, I’m sure I can find _plenty _of ways to _work _the three of you. Ho Ho Ho. I accept!”

Hugo slashes at the field again. What the hell are they _thinking?_

Melville doesn’t wait for Guillaume to declare the start, just bursts off to the side, strafing Guillaume’s suit with ranged fire. It does little to the much larger suit, though. Guillaume laughs and gives chase. And Hugo realizes what’s been going on, because Elliot and Alanis use the distraction to act, moving directly for the ship…and the controls for the shield. Guillaume as much as told them exactly how to deactivate it. Hugo laughs to himself—the kids are smarter than he gave them credit for. They had him fooled, too.

Of course, it’ll be for nothing if Melville can’t survive long enough for them to get the shield down. Luckily, Guillaume doesn’t seem that effective a pilot, and Melville is running circles around him. Even in a far inferior suit, he keeps the larger enemy mostly on the defensive. Until a sudden jab from Guillaume’s spear catches him in the suit’s thigh. Hugo gasps, almost feeling the pain that suddenly comes from the suit’s sensors screeching their warnings and damage reports.

“Got you now, you little worm,” Guillaume says, pulling his spear back. “Normally I wouldn’t sully myself with a piece of trash like you, but even filthy boys have their uses. Ho Ho Ho.”

“Thanks, but I already have a boyfriend,” Melville says. “And a girlfriend. And they’re both way better than you.”

“Insolence! You’re hardly in a position to bargain, whelp! I think first I work you over with a whip, then…”

“You might want to wait on that,” Melville says. “Not sure you’re going to be in a state to much to anyone until you get out of the hospital.”

“The hospital? Whatever do you mean?”

Melville doesn’t speak, but he points with his mech. Guillaume turns. To see the shield now vanished. And Hugo, Sgt. Joe, and Lulu floating behind him with Alanis and Elliot. A suit can’t exactly pale in fright, but Hugo can imagine the man’s face within, and he can’t help but smile picturing it. And then the fight is on.

Guillaume manages to escape, though he has to eject an arm and a leg to do it. Whatever happens, the man’s operation is in tatters. Hugo and the others loot what they can and burn the rest.

When they all get back to Vinay del Zexey Hugo leaves most of the money with Melville, for repairs and any medical attention. The kids all embrace.

“See, I knew there was nothing that could stop the Saint Loa Knights!” Elliot says, and everyone pretends he hadn’t been the one constantly worried about getting home on time.

“I’d say our first official adventure was a huge success!” Melville says. “If we keep practicing, we’re bound to be as strong and famous as Sir Chris!”

Alanis frowns, though. “About that…” she says. “I’m afraid our first official adventure…might be our last.”

Everyone looks at her.

“What do you mean?” Melville asks.

“Is it something I did?” Elliot asks. “Are you breaking up with us?”

She glares. “No, stupid,” she says. “It’s just that…my father, he’s being assigned back to Tinto. And…and I mean…I have to go with him.”

Hugo flinches at the look of hurt and disappointment that spread on Melville and Elliot’s faces.

“You mean…” But Elliot doesn’t finish.

“But, couldn’t you…” Melville doesn’t do any better, and stops himself.

“Now, no being so sad,” Alanis says. “I can’t stand that. We—we’ll still have another w-week. And we can write to each other, and connect over the trinity system!”

Hugo, rocking awkwardly on his heels, stops forward.

“I’m sorry that you’ll be leaving,” he says. “And I thank you for being one of the few Zexens to treat us like…real people. I don’t want to intrude, though, so we’ll get going. And…and I wish you all the luck in staying together.”

He glances over at Lulu, he catches his eye, then looks away, blushing.

“Love is a strange thing,” Hugo manages. “I hope it finds a way with you three.”

And they say their goodbyes, and Hugo, Lulu, and Sgt. Joe return to the hotel. They all collapse on their beds, exhausted from the long day.

“At least that took up the time until our meeting,” Sgt. Joe says, but Hugo doesn’t answer. He’s already dropping into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the side quest with the Saint Loa Knights, which I don't think I did the first time I played through the game. But I like it, and the dynamic between the three "knights." Also, oh no, the thing with Hugo/Lulu is getting real sad. Shit...
> 
> Also, in case people are wondering, Hugo is 18 here, Lulu is 16 (Melville and the gang are 15).
> 
> Stars seen: Hugo, Sgt. Joe, Fubar, Melville, Elliot, Alanis, Guillaume  
Stars alluded to: Billy


	5. Hugo ch1, pt5: Easing Frustration in Vinay del Zexay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After delivering their message to the Zexen Council (or, well, being prevented from giving the message to the full Council), Hugo fumes as the trio contemplate returning to Karaya the next day. While Sgt. Joe goes off to see more of the city/planet, though, Hugo and Lulu distract themselves in a much different way.

Hugo wants to punch a wall. All that waiting, all that time, and the Zexen council didn’t even bother meeting with them. An “official representative” took their message, and promised to relay it to the full council body. And that’s that—they’re expected to head back to Karaya in the morning.

“They could have at least pretended that they’d listen,” Hugo says. “Like they weren’t doing us a favor by not spitting on us before we left.”

“The situation with Zexen is…complicated,” Sgt. Joe says. “They want the galaxy to think that they’re a major player, civilized and dignified, like they aren’t new and backwards compared to just about every other power in the sector.”

“And like the Karaya and the rest of the tribes are completely isolated. Not only do we fight and trade together, but we have connections outside the area, as well.” Hugo crosses his arms, pouts. “My mother has been to Greenhill, has been all over the world. We have relations with a dozen foreign powers, and have their respect, however much Zexen wants to pretend that we’re an embarrassment. We’ve earned out reputation as warriors.”

“And no amount of disrespect from the Zexen will change that,” Joe says. “Just try not to let it bother you so much. So they were assholes. Not like we were really expecting otherwise. No offense, kid, but it’s why your mom sent you and didn’t come herself or send one of her more senior warriors. Beecham would have been an obvious choice. But he also might have killed that little toad for refusing to let him see the full council.”

Hugo frowned. Was that what he was supposed to do? As if sensing his thoughts, Joe puts a feathered hand on his arm.

“You’re the diplomatic approach,” Joe says. “Not just that you are the son of the clan chief, but that you’re young and untested. Lucia isn’t expecting you to fight every ironhead who’s an ass to you. In fact, she’s expecting you do exactly as you have been. The Zexen might get off annoying you, but your mom still set the tone of the meeting, and in some ways it’s just as annoying to the Zexen that Lucia didn’t send someone with more experience. Not that you were meant to fail, but I think Lucia knew this wasn’t going to work out perfect. It does put the ball in the Zexen court, though. They’ll have to respond next, and I’d bet, whatever happens, that Lucia will be ready for them.”

Hugo takes a deep breath. Joe has such confidence in Lucia, in her judgment and strategy. But it sounds like she never expected Hugo could succeed on his mission. That this was all some sort of feint, some sort of farce. Or close to it. And knowing that didn’t make him feel any better. She could have told him from the start. Or…

With a groan he stomps over to his bed and throws himself down. “Fine. Whatever.”

Sgt. Joe shakes his head. “Might as well enjoy the last day in the big city, then. I think I’ll check out that troupe of minstrels we saw earlier. Not every day you see elves this far from their sacred groves.”

Hugo grunts. Joe shrugs, then turns to Lulu, who has been very quiet on the other bed.

“You want to come with?” Joe asks, and Lulu gives a start, flushes, and quickly shakes his head.

“Nuh uh. That stuff’s for babies.” He makes a face like he ate something sour.

Joe rolls his eyes. “Suit yourselves. But don’t come crying to me when we’re on our way back and all you saw of the city was your room at the inn.”

He leaves, and Hugo buries his head in his pillow.

It’s not fair. What Sgt. Joe says makes sense. That the reason he was sent is because they never really expected the Zexen to listen, but they had to at least appear to be trying. But…he still has to return in failure. Has to look Lucia in the eyes and say that the best he could do was present some minor functionary the message she had meant for the whole Council. Not exactly the greatest showing for what was his first ever mission away from home.

“We could break into the Council building and see if we can’t sneak into the main chamber and _make_ them listen to us,” Lulu says.

Hugo shifts, looks across the room. Lulu doesn’t look like he’s joking, and as much as that scares him, Hugo also feels a thrill shoot through him at the thought. But he slumps back onto the bed.

“I’m pretty sure Sgt. Joe would call that a _Very Bad Idea_. My mother would no doubt agree.” He sighs. “No, I think he’s right—we weren’t meant to win this one.”

“Then why do you seem so angry?”

Hugo huffs and rolls onto his back. “I still don’t like losing.”

Lulu laughs and Hugo hears him get up and cross the room, feels the bed shift as Lulu climbs on. Feels the weight of Lulu’s body as he straddles his waist.

“Well we could try and distract ourselves with something that you _do_ like,” Lulu says.

A laugh is halfway to Hugo’s lips before he catches it, stops it. Looks up into Lulu’s eyes. There’s a hint of mischief there, but no joke. Hugo pauses, body suddenly warm. Remembering what they had talked about in the asteroid. Remembering the times they had messed around in the past. Made out. A little bit more. For practice, he had always told himself. For when Jimba…

But something is different now. He looks up and it’s Lulu’s blue eyes looking back at him. His soft features, still boyish, but handsome all the same. His ears that stick out like flags from either side of his head. That tuft of longer, red where the rest of his hair, cut shorter, appears darker, almost black. And for once Hugo can see the naked desire there, the look that’s definitely not plutonic, that carries a heat that he feels, that warms him. Shit. He’s not going to say no.

Hugo reaches up, catches Lulu’s face in his hands, slides his fingers into his hair and then around the back of his neck, pulling him into a kiss.

They’ve kissed before. Made out. Heavy petting, panting bodies—this isn’t new, exactly. And yet it is. It _feels_ different. Hugo open his mouth as Lulu’s tongue slides in, eager and wild. Before, whatever happened, it was…it was practice. Somewhere in his mind Hugo hadn’t been fully there, had instead been in a future with someone else. Jimba maybe, or maybe just the idea of _someone_. Someone he was practicing _for_. Now, here, it’s all Lulu, the reality of him, of his body. His mouth and his tongue and his hands braced against Hugo’s chest, fingers spreading over the firm muscle there, trailing lower, to the sash at his waist. With a nimble twist Lulu manages to get the clasp undone, and quickly pulls it free. Karayan clothing isn’t exactly simple, but Lulu must have been doing some practicing on his own because with deft moments he pushes up Hugo’s shirt over his head, undoes the belt of his pants.

It's moving too fast. Hugo should…should stop this. But Lulu is back to kissing him, his excitement obvious through the fabric of their pants. And Hugo doesn’t argue as Lulu pulls away, slides his hands under Hugo, who lifts his hips obligingly while Lulu removes his pants. Which leaves him completely naked.

“For now, we can forget that we’re in the middle of an ironhead city,” Lulu says. “Here, it’s just you and me.”

And for all Hugo knows he should feel guilty, that sounds amazing. He grins, and in a flash he’s rolled out of bed and pivoted behind Lulu, who doesn’t have time to react before Hugo wraps his arms around him.

“Then this is exactly where I want to be,” he says, and pushes Lulu down onto the bed. No fair him being the only naked one. Not for what happens next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is getting a bit more tragic than anticipated, though about as steamy. Hugo and Lulu are just so cute! And okay, probably about 2-3 more parts to this first Hugo chapter. Next up will be action of a much different sense. For those who can't tell, this first Hugo chapter is one of my favorites in the game, providing a lot of challenge and some great world building and character work. This is the one I always play first, which is why it's in the lead position here. As an fyi, I normally alternate Hugo, Chris, Geddoe, Thomas, which is how I'll be writing this. It means a long wait for Geddoe and company, who are amazing, but ah well. Anyway, I'm trying not to get into Explicit territory here, so that's why the fade to black at the ending. There will be plenty of steam in this, but probably not as much graphic sex as I am probably used to writing. But gotta stretch a bit! Anyway, thanks for reading!
> 
> Stars seen: Hugo, Sgt. Joe  
Stars alluded to: Beecham, Lucia


	6. Hugo ch1, pt6: Escaping Vinay del Zexay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get real as the Zexens try to prevent Hugo from leaving the city. Try being the operative word...

The day steals itself away, drawing twilight to Vinay del Zexay. Hugo and Lulu lounge in their room, not really talking about what happened, not really avoiding it. They sit on the bed together wearing only their under shorts the way they had when they were boys and the heat made clothes intolerable. For the first time since they left Karaya, they relax. Sgt. Joe returns with dinner and stories about the city, and it seems like maybe this is all okay. Even the botched assignment. Like Joe said, maybe they weren’t meant to succeed, but only to make the effort. They’d report back and that would be that. After all the posturing, they’d reach a peace or not, but life would go on. Hugo closes his eyes and thinks of the space around Karaya. Racing the belts. He imagines the next rites, cheering Lulu on as he officially becomes an adult.

He takes his bowl of stew and sits by the window, looking out at the city. Busy, noisy, dirty—it didn’t hold a candle to Karaya. But… He takes another bite. The meat is greasy but tastes good, goes well with the turnips, carrots, and potatoes. Could use some spicy sauce or something, but still it’s not bad. Maybe…maybe he’d even be able to visit here again. He glances back at Lulu, who is eating noisily while listening to Joe describe the pantomime he saw. It’s not like this trip was all bad. Unexpected, but maybe he’d still like to celebrate it a bit. He and Lulu had a couple of firsts here, after all.

Hugo smiles, almost turns away from the window, when a flash of light catches his attention. Armor. Ground level. Probably a guard on his beat, but Hugo squints, sees a small group in formation quickly circling toward the inn’s entrance.

A part of his says that this must be normal. It’s an ironhead city—no doubt their guards are always bustling about, imposing some sort of Order on the people. Silencing dissent. Taking bribes. All cops are bastards. But probably it has nothing to do with him, with their little group and the treaty. A seed of ice seems to lodge in his stomach, though. A suspicion.

“Sergeant,” he says. “I think we might want to get to our suits. Looks like we might be checking out a little earlier than expected.”

Joe and Lulu both hurry to the window in time to see the guards slip into the inn. They don’t argue.

Part of being Karayan in Zexen territory is knowing your escape routes. They’d established plans the moment they were situated in the inn. They open the window and climb up to the root, following the surface to where the inn met with the garage/bay. The lock is nothing that Lulu can’t handle, and they’re through, silent, sliding into their suits less than five minutes after leaving their room.

Of course, the garage is closed, and pinging for the inn to open its doors will not only give away their position, it’ll let the ironheads delay with promises of opening the door while they can get into position. Hugo cuts the power lines to the inn before they think to drain his batteries as a precaution. It might seem strange to someone really paying attention, but he doubts they think they’ve gotten clear of their rooms, and these sorts of things happen during maintenance as well.

“You sure about this?” Sgt. Joe asks. “Maybe they just want to talk. Maybe they’re here to say that Council will see us after all.”

“They’d have sent a bureaucrat for that,” Hugo says. No, the only reason they’d have sent a squad of guards is to take them into custody. Hugo has no intention of obliging.

“They probably have suits nearby, as backup,” Joe says.

Hugo takes a deep breath. The implication is that being taken prisoner might be a better alternative to dying in the street. Which, fair. But he’s already failed in his mission—there is no way that he’s allowing himself to be taken hostage as well. He fully powers on his suit and pulls free his long dagger.

“They probably don’t have enough,” Hugo says. They’ve underestimated him from the start. See only a child. A backwards idiot from beyond civilization. He tightens his suit’s grip on the dagger, and launches forward.

They burst free through the garage door at a run. Beyond the streets are wide and relatively clear, being after work for most people. They don’t pause to see if they’re being pursued.

Hugo’s heart pounds in his chest, and it’s like he’s back in the black of the asteroid belt, racing. He takes the lead, Lulu behind him, Sgt. Joe covering their rear. He can’t let loose fully or he might pull too far ahead, but he doesn’t hold much back. Lulu is no slouch, and Sgt. Joe has been around enough that he can hold his own. The Zexens are heavily armored but pay the price in speed, and Hugo wants to exploit that as much as possible. Even if they have forces in reserve, a net to try and catch them, it’s possible that they can punch through it where it’s thin and get free. He doesn’t know what kind of welcome they’ll get at the port, but they can deal with that when it happens. Hopefully they’ve haven’t anticipated that they would break free, and won’t get time to bring in that many reinforcements. The Zexen might be efficient on the battlefield, but they’re also arrogant, and Hugo doubts they took this assignment entirely seriously.

Of course, that doesn’t mean there aren’t suits waiting on the street for them, rushing from the side to cut them off from their escape.

“We’re not going to be able to avoid them,” Sgt. Joe says, but Hugo is aware of that.

Three manage to form a line to block the street. Bystanders rush to get out of the way of what promises to be bloody. There are options, of course. They could veer from the large suit roads, jump onto buildings, leave a swath of destruction in their wake that would probably protect them from the patrols of the Zexen guards. There was no way to ensure that they wouldn’t hurt civilians, though. No way to avoid maybe stepping on a person. And that…Hugo shudders. Rather, he pushes forward, braces, and slides.

The move works better on softer surfaces, but he doesn’t care that the road leaves scratches on his armor as he moves right under the swing of the Zexen suit’s sword, It’s bigger than his, which means a few things. First, it has no way to react fast enough to him passing through its legs. Second, it’s easy to grab one of those legs on his way through, using it as leverage to pop back up while also sending the knight tumbling to the ground. A quick stab severs the main lines from the battery and powers down the suit before it, or the two other suits, have time to react.

The other two suits are smaller, though, and Hugo moves directly into a defensive stance as they turn to him, weapons rising. They should probably have paid more attention to the rest them.

Lulu is on one of them in an instant, tackling it to the ground and burying his dagger in the suit’s neck. Sgt. Joe’s halberd catches the other one in the should, cleaving down halfway through its chest. It falls.

None of the pilots should be dead from that, but they don’t have time to check. They have to get to the port, and fast.

Luckily, the rest of the way is clear, and they reach the port almost expecting to find it unguarded. Unfortunately, Hugo quick reconsiders when he sees whose waiting for them.

“That’s about enough of that, don’t you think?” comes the broadcast from the huge suit before them. Probably twice as wide as Hugo’s suit, it looks almost more like a tank, and carries a large, double headed axe. Behind that, a taller suit also waits, this one with a giant bow, homing arrow no doubt notched. The broadcast came from the wide one, and Hugo knows enough from the stories the other Karayan warriors have told that it must be Sir Leo. Which makes the other—

“That asshole from Brass Castle,” Lulu hisses, also recognizing Sir Roland.

“I knew you’d be problems the moment I first saw you,” Roland says. The bow doesn’t even twitch.

“Just stand down,” Leo adds, “and we can work this out. We just want to talk with you. The Council has some concerns about your message.”

“The Council could have seen us when we delivered it, then,” Hugo says.

Two more of the smaller suits line up beside Sir Leo.

“There have been some worrying reports come from Karaya and the Great Hollow,” Leo says. “You will surrender to our authority until those reports can be verified or disproven.”

“No thanks,” Hugo says. And he can feel something. A kind of pressure in the back of his mind. He’d felt it some when they’d been out with the Saint Loa Knights, but it’s stronger now. Heavier. And he thinks he knows what it means.

“Hugo, we might not want to piss them off too much,” Sgt. Joe warns. “We’re outnumbered here, and these men, they aren’t like the guards.”

“Then that will make this a bit more fair,” Hugo says, and throws himself forward. As he expected, the knights aren’t ready for it, are too assured of their own superiority. It costs Sir Leo a slash across his chest plate and shoulder.

“You’ll regret that,” comes the threat across the broadcast, and Hugo dances back, glad to see that the larger suit seems damaged enough that it switches to a one-handed grip on the axe and advances. Lulu and Sgt. Joe are already attacking, and all three of them try to keep their opponents in between them and Roland, who is hesitating now that everyone has entered the fray.

Still, Joe wasn’t wrong. Even damaged, Leo’s suit is powerful, and Hugo barely avoids the axe’s blade. He retreats, quickly flings himself to the side as an arrow explodes where he was a moment ago. He rolls away from another axe strike, kicks out and connects with Leo’s suit’s knees, but it’s not enough to drop him. His armor is thick, almost too thick for even his dagger to get through.

Lulu cries out as an arrow explodes near him, sending him sprawling to the street. Sgt. Joe knocks his opponent out of the way, though, and catches the sword dropping towards Lulu with his halberd before it can connect. Hugo sighs in relief, but then finds himself thrown back as Leo rushes him, knocking him down, his dagger sliding out of reach.

“Should be paying more attention to me,” Leo taunts.

Hugo hisses, avoids the next axe blow, retreats again, this time without his dagger. That pressure in his head is even stronger now, though. He sees a shiver of movement in the sky, and he smiles.

“And you should maybe be paying attention to…them,” Hugo says, and points up.

Laughter across the broadcast. “Like I’m stupid enough to fall for—”

He doesn’t get further as Fubar lands on him, crumpling the suit’s legs and knocking the axe from its hands. Roland makes a startled noise over the broadcast but the sudden arrival is enough of a distraction that Sgt. Joe steps under his guard and strikes his suit full in the face with the shaft of his halberd. The suit falls as if its strings were cut. The other two suits, already damaged, don’t stand much longer. Hugo retrieves his dagger and rushes over to Fubar, running his suit’s hand over their flank.

“Thanks,” he says, and Fubar makes a pleased screeching noise. The knights out of the way, they make quick work prepping the launchers, blasting themselves out into the cold dark, away from Vinay del Zexay. Toward home, and maybe, Hugo hopes, an end to this adventure. As much fun as it has been, he’s looking forward to a warm fire, a good meal, and maybe another night in the arms of Lulu.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some action again, and not of the sexual sort. I don't think I've ever actually won the battle against Leo and Roland in the game. I've gotten the clock to wind down, and probably would have been able to defeat them if the battle lasted longer, but I do love that Fubar shows up and kicks some ass. And all right, next up is the return to Brass Castle. Not quite sure how this is going to translate with mech suits, but I'm still looking forward to it. Hope you're liking it!
> 
> Stars seen: Hugo, Sgt. Joe, Leo, Roland  
Stars alluded to: Lucia


	7. Hugo ch1, pt7: Thank the Spirits for Corrupt Ironheads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting out of Vinay del Zexay is one thing. Getting through Brass Castle and back to Karaya space is something else entirely. How will Hugo and company evade Zexen patrols and get back home? Corruption might just be the answer! Just...not how you'd probably guess.

Getting back through the portal at Brass Castle poses something of a new challenge. The portal itself is heavily guarded, with fortifications along both sides. There’s no doubt that Leo and Roland will have sent along their descriptions ahead of them, and there’s no real way to fight through an entire fort of Zexen forces. Which leaves…sneaking. And luck. Sgt. Joe alters their comm frequencies to make it impossible for the Zexen to identify them using that, but it only gets them into the front door. Getting through inspection…

Once inside the castle, the three of them veer off for a meal and a chance to plan. This side of the gate, there’s not a huge amount of options for where to go. There’s a couple of restaurants, but the largest establishment is actually an enormous bookstore and rune outpost. Hugo feels a little strange going in after their meal, but it looked less crowded than the restaurants. Not that they don’t have runes on Karaya, but that he knows that how people approach runes varies so much from place to place. In Zexen, runes are things to be studied, to be discussed and examined. Hugo met a few scholars from Zexen, once, who came out to Karaya to do some study into the Flame Champion. Not that they learned anything. But they’d seemed surprised to find people using runes to water the crops, to hunt, to shape the earth. Hugo had never been the most proficient, but even he knew that a wind rune was perfect for masking scent from a quarry. And a fire rune was great when it came to cooking in the wilds, though he’d been warned repeatedly that anyone from what they called the Grasslands, the largely agricultural worlds of which Karaya was one, was seen with a fire rune outside their worlds, it made people…nervous. Stories of the Flame Champion lingered everywhere, it seemed, though they meant something different to a Harmonian than to a Duck.

They found a secluded corner.

“I don’t like leaving the suits alone so long,” Lulu says.

“Not to mention Fubar,” Hugo adds.

Sgt. Joe waves their fears away. “The descriptions of us will be with the guards doing inspection. Before then, as long as we don’t pick a fight, we should be fine.”

“And the reason we’re out of our suits at all…?” Lulu asks.

Sgt. Joe sighs and gives his wings a bit of a flap.

“I wouldn’t have taken the risk if I didn’t think there was something to be gained.”

“And what do we have to gain here?” Hugo asks. He wants to trust Sgt. Joe, but the stress of it all is getting to him. He wants to be home. He wants this to be done.

“Well, let’s just say that there are certain…rumors. About a secret way through the portal. One that smugglers used to use to bypass the security here.”

Lulu blows a raspberry. “This isn’t like a mountain pass where you can just dig a tunnel,” he says. “Any secret passageway would have needed to be _built_ into the fortress. Which…kinda makes the whole fortress thing pointless.”

“Not if you’re one of the Zexen in charge of the project and you intend this special passageway to only be accessible to you.”

Hugo sucks in a breath. “You mean—”

Joe nods. “It was an inside job. The ironhead in charge of constructing the fortress around the portal wanted there to be a way for him to be able to get around the inspections, so that he could smuggle things from inside Zexen to out, and vice versa. Rumor is he had quite the time of it. Until he died mysteriously one night, supposedly taking the secret of the passageway with him.”

Hugo frowns. “If he took the secret to the stars, then isn’t that it? It’s not like we’re just going to stumble on where it is if it’s been lost for…however long this place has been here.”

“Well, that’s a point,” Joe concedes. “Except that I’ve heard about someone who might have been able to figure out where they were. In theory, at least.”

“In theory?” Lulu asks.

“Well, she’s a bit…academic about things. Luckily, she’s said to hang out…right here.”

Sgt. Joe leads them further into the rows and rows of bookshelves, to a small alcove where…a young woman, maybe fifteen years old, wearing a plain dress and an academic.

“You must be Ernie,” Sgt. Joe says, and the young woman looks up as if startled. She had been reading a book almost as big as she is.

“Oh, hello,” she says as she looks them over, her gaze lingering a bit on Lulu.

“We were wondering if you could help us with a question about the history of this castle,” Joe says.

Ernie brightens immediately. “History is a particular passion of mine! I will of course help in any way I can.”

Joe waits a minute, and it seems that Ernie leans forward in her chair with every passing second.

“I had heard that there might have been a secret passage built into the castle at the time of its construction.”

“Oh you mean the Lowma Corridor!”

Sgt. Joe nods. “Yes, sorry, I meant to say the Lowma Corridor. I was wondering if you knew where it was supposed to have been found.”

Ernie purses her lips and squints. “Well, it’s never officially been found, of course. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t make a pretty educated guess about where it would be. Unfortunately, it’s rumored that Sir Bertram Lowma, the man who built the station and is rumored to have included the elicit corridor, also conspired to destroy the original plans to which the castle was built. So I’ve never managed to find the original blueprints, and of course they might have been classified even if there was an extant copy out there somewhere. Of course, if someone had the plans, likely there would have been some evidence that the corridor was still in use, as there was pack when Sir Bertram was still alive.”

“T-there was evidence?” Joe asks.

“Yes, lots, though you have to be looking at it right to realize what it means. If you really study the logs from when Sir Bertram was alive, though, you can see a pattern of arrivals to either side of Brass Castle of individuals who claim to be _sight seeing_. Only they arrive with large amounts of cargo. Cargo that is never marked as having gone through inspection. Which, isn’t technically illegal. Anyone can come to one side of the Castle and then leave back out the same side without going through the portal at all. But it does bring up the question of why anyone would arrive at a place like Brass Castle with a lot of cargo only to just leave with it again. There’s no way to tell if the cargo did leave the Castle, either, as shipments are only weighed in inspection. I only know about these shipments at all because all reasons for arriving into the station are recorded when entering the Castle, and then again verified when getting to inspection. They are not confirmed, nor is cargo tallied, when a person leaves the other side.”

Hugo feels the start of a headache.

“But these sorts of _sight seeing_ visits stop abruptly when Sir Bertram died. So it stands to reason that they were linked. As for the location of the Corridor, it’s a bit harder to guess. It would have had to be somewhere people wouldn’t have noticed large amount of cargo being loaded through. Being as Sir Bertram was involved, it’s likely that he had access to it through his offices in the heart of the Castle, but it seems too suspicious that people would have brought large cargos through to those only to disappear or leave with considerably less. More likely that there is some connection to one of the lodgings on either side of the portal. It’s impossible to be certain without…investigating it physically.”

She says the words like the idea of leaving the stacks of books is a kind of torture.

“But if you were make an educated guess?” Joe asks.

Ernie shrugs. “Financial records state that Sir Bertram was heavily involved in almost every business in Brass Castle at the time, but there’s only one lodging hall on either side of the gate that he owned outright. On this side, the _Tipped Crown_. On the other, the _Gilded Magpie._ If I were forced to guess where the entry and exit to the Corridor was, I’d way there. Though I don’t make a habit of simply _guessing_.”

Joe nods. “Thank you,” he says. “You’ve been most helpful. But we shouldn’t keep you from your book any longer.”

Ernie does her best impression of a seated bow, and Joe pulls Hugo and Lulu along after him as they head back to their suits.

“Sounds like we’re checking out the _Tipped Crown_.”

It doesn’t take much to get into the inn’s garage, which must be where the entrance is. It’s the only place that would have allowed for goods to be parked overnight and removed without suspicion. Of course, looking around didn’t exactly make anything obvious.

“He must have had a key or a way of opening it,” Lulu says. “There’s probably no way to just grope along hoping there’s a doorknob that no one’s noticed for hundreds of years.”

Joe grunts and keeps examining one of the garage’s walls. Hugo sighs and resolves to wait, letting his suit’s sensors sweep the area, but there’s nothing. It’s Fubar who eventually breaks the silence, though, and approaches the wall where Sgt. Joe is still searching for…something.

“Fubar, give him some space,” Hugo says, but Fubar lets out a soft screech and reaches a clawed limb to the wall instead. For a moment Hugo thinks that they’re going to tear right through it, but instead their claw…shifts. Seems to almost melt. And _enters the wall_. Sgt. Joe jumps back, obviously surprised, and Hugo bites back a curse. What the hell are they—

With a squeaking whine, a part of the wall pops, then slides away, revealing a wide, unlit corridor.

“Well fuck,” Sgt. Joe says. “I didn’t know they could do that.”

“Good job, Fubar!” Lulu says, wrapping them in a hug.

They proceed, making sure to close the secret door after they’re in. Their flashlights on, they proceed slowly through the corridor, which eventually empties into a large room. To the side they see another, small passage, probably the one Ernie mentioned that might connect with the office of the Castle chief. And before them, the portal. Or a part of it. Enough, obviously, that Sir Bertram could smuggle with impunity.

“Thank the spirits for corrupt ironheads,” Sgt. Joe says, and together the four of them move through. The hardest part is making sure they aren’t seen existing inside the _Gilded Magpie_’s garage. But when they do they’re out, clear, and it’s only a short hustle from there back out into the space back to Karaya.

Finally. Home. Hugo sighs. His first mission has been a lot more eventful than he anticipated, and at least he’s managed to stay out of too much trouble. No, the message wasn’t really received, but he’s not a hostage, and that matters for something. Plus… He looks at Lulu and remembers what happened. The complicated place it leaves them in now. But he doesn’t regret it. He looks forward to figuring it out. Probably Lucia will say she always figured it would happen. Somehow he thinks that would have annoyed him, a week ago. Now, though, it’s almost a comfort.

He burns a little faster, and everyone else keeps up, no doubt also looking forward to a night in their own beds.

It’s then that they get the message, the shrill warning cry that cuts through their transmissions. The call for help. Karaya is under attack.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First mentions of a bunch of things here, including runes and the Flame Champion. I think Hugo actually has a wind rune through all this, but personally I never really used it. Still, I like to think about how the various peoples would use a magical technology that's never really that explored in the games. Runes are ubiquitous, but the economics or realities of them aren't that gone into. Anyway, I take some liberties here versus what happened in the game, because accidentally falling through a trap door isn't that likely here. And it does intro Ernie, who is rather hilarious. And best not think about what's coming next. Fahk. Not sure I'm ready. Hope you're enjoying!
> 
> Stars seen: Hugo, Sgt. Joe, Ernie  
Stars alluded to: Lucia


	8. Hugo ch1, pt8: The Sound of a Heart Breaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Destruction has come to Karaya.

The transmission cuts before they get to Karaya, and they can see the light from the fires from outside orbit. A Zexen fleet is engaged in space, but there’s battle on the surface, too, and it’s there that Hugo aims, racing. Home.

None of this makes sense. He was supposed to be delivering a message of peace. Why were the Zexen here? Why had they broken their word? From what they heard of the transmission before it cut, the main Karayan forces were engaged elsewhere, near the Great Hollow. The Zexen weren’t attacking Karayan warriors. At least, not primarily. They were attacking civilians.

“The ironhead bastards!” Lulu roars as they set their suits for reentry far enough from the Zexen fleet that there shouldn’t be a worry of being picked off on the way down. They blaze into twilight on the surface, a darkness lit by the city burning.

It’s too much. There are bodies in the streets, almost all of them Karayan. The defense forces must have been overwhelmed, and now…

They make for Luce’s. Lucia and most of the warriors are someplace else. But Luce, she’d be at home. Or helping with the evacuation. They have to make sure she’s safe. They race through streets they played in as kids. Landmarks obliterated. Homes in ruin. Rage boils inside Hugo.

And then Luce’s home. Lulu’s home. On fire. Smoke billowing out and up. And a Zexen suit, gleaming silver with a white decorative braid down the back. Standing there, head tilted up. Ash and what might be blood staining their feet.

Hugo pauses at the sight, so strange and almost incongruous with the rest of the scene. So…peaceful.

So it surprises him when Lulu darts ahead, knife out.

“Lu!” Hugo shouts, but it’s too late.

Lulu leaps. For a moment, it looks like he’ll catch the Zexen unaware. For a moment, before the suit moves faster than Hugo can really follow with his eyes. Instantly they draw a sword, and just as fast it’s tearing through the front of Lulu’s suit, slicing up from groin to neck.

“LULU!” Hugo shouts, and draws his own weaon.

“Hugo, stop!” Sgt. Joe warns, but Hugo doesn’t listen. He watches as Lulu’s suit seems to move in slow motion. He sees a mist of blood. Or oil. Maybe just oil. He pushes that away, concentrates on his attack. He moves, strikes—

The Zexen suit moves again, and Hugo finds himself swinging through empty air. He swears and throws himself forward without looking, feels the space behind him vibrate with barely-avoided violence. He turns, lashes out again.

The Zexen knight deflects his blow, presses forward.

This is different from sparring with Jimba, from practicing battle maneuvers with Alia. Somewhere in the back of his mind Hugo thinks he will die here. The Zexen knight is better than anyone he’s fought. Better probably than his mother. There is a calm ruthlessness to their movement, to their swings. But Hugo doesn’t care. Maybe he’d welcome defeat at this point. His eyes burn with tears. For Karaya. For Lulu.

The Zexen blade slides past his defense, slashes his suit’s shoulder. Warning lights blaze. And it must be over. The Zexen raises their weapon faster than Hugo can react. He watches the blade as it begins to fall. He closes his eyes.

A crash. Hugo opens his eyes to see the Zexen stumble back, their sword drawn away from their attack to block Sgt. Joe’s thrust with his halberd. Behind the duck, Fubar screeches. The Zexen doesn’t balk. Just adjusts their stance. Then, something shifts, and they look up, drawing everyone’s gaze to the sky. New explosions. The return of the Karayan fleet.

The Zexen looked down at them again. Then turns and runs. Hugo swears, makes to chase, but finds himself restrained. Sgt. Joe is holding him back.

“Let her go,” he says. “You can’t win that fight.”

And though Hugo wants to argue his desire to fight is gone. He tears out of his suit as fast as he can, runs to the wreck that the Zexen left behind. Maybe the blow missed the cockpit. Maybe. But the truth is written in blood across the ruins of Lulu’s suit. Hugo pulls debris away, searching for…and finds Lulu. Hugo tries to swallow back the bile but wretches noisily over the bent metal of the suit. Lulu.

He reaches down and pulls the body to his chest. Aware of the blood, the mess it’s leaving on him. He can’t not. He has to, has to…

Lulu.

Hugo screams into the uncaring dusk. Screams as every future they might have had dies. As all the dreams they shared snuff out like the stars eclipsed by the battle raging above the planet. Only these won’t return when the fighting stops.

Lulu.

Hugo screams until he can’t scream any more, until feathered arms pull him away. Until he’s hollow of everything but loss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> end of Hugo Chapter 1. 
> 
> fuck. This moment always gets me. Especially because you have to follow it up (or at least I normally do) with playing as Chris. It's just such a gutting moment. Anyway, it is what it is. Hugo is going to be a mess for a while. 
> 
> Stars seen: Hugo, Sgt. Joe, Fubar, Chris  
Stars alluded to: Luce, Lucia


	9. Chris ch1, pt1: No Rest for Weary Knights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following her promotion to Captain of the Zexen Knights, Chris is ordered back to Brass Castle to intercept the Lizard Clan envoy before they reach Zexen space.

Chris hates Vinay del Zexay. For what it is and what it isn’t. For the noise, and the overcrowding. For the way the poor have to sit in the streets begging change. For the way the processing plants near the port makes everything smell like fish (she’s asked people who know who have explained that it’s because of a certain kind of fish oil used to lubricate the great machines that run constantly there). For the Zexen bloody Council, which is who she is waiting to see like a schoolgirl waiting to see the principal because her skirt is too short.

Chris’ hands clench into fists.

And she hates it because it isn’t…kind. Isn’t warm. Isn’t bright. The builds crowd, making a maze of shadows. The smoke clogs and chokes. The price of modernity, she knows, but she hates that too. All these fake people pretending that it means something. That modern is better than traditional. That interstellar is better than local. When all it means if you lose sight of the people being crushed and made into…fish oil, probably. Cheaper than finding real fish in these parts.

Strange to think that for all she hates this city, she’s its latest sworn protector. Captain of the Zexen Knights. She wonders—she shakes her head to banish the thought before it can fully form. It doesn’t matter if her father would have been proud. Doesn’t. Matter. Being missing or dead, his opinion means little enough indeed. But she can’t help the whisper of a thought creep into her head all the same, that part of why she hates the city is that it’s the one _he _left. And maybe it was the city, rather than her, that was the reason he had never returned.

“The Council will see you now,” a clerk says, and Chris doesn’t jump, though she hadn’t been paying attention to his approach.

“Will they now?” she mutters, and sees a small smile flash on Louis’ mouth. “Shouldn’t keep _them_ waiting then.”

The clerk ignores the sarcasm and leads her into the Council chamber, where the men all sit around a large round table. She walks to the edge of the table, salutes, and stands at attention. It’s more than they deserve, more deference and respect, but she wants to remind them she’s a soldier. A knight. Not…whatever else they might think of her as.

“Lady Chris,” Councilor Lowma greets. The asshole.

“That’s _Sir_ Chris,” Louis corrects, bless him, and Lowma scowls at the squire. At sixteen he should be young enough for the Councilor to ruin for such a slight, but Louis is a Keeferson, and the Keefersons have enough money they don’t need to have political ambitions. Not that he can’t ruin _Chris_ for her squire’s indiscretions.

“That’s all right, Louis,” Chris says, probably not as sternly as Lowma would like, but it would have to do. “You wanted my report, Councilor?”

Lowma sighs and reclines in his chair. Around the room, the other Councilors adopt bored expressions.

“Not hardly,” he says. “I want you on the next transport to Brass Castle.”

Chris feels a small wave of relief before she realizes that he doesn’t mean just her.

“Councilor, with all due respect, my troops have just returned from there for this…parade you wanted.” This ridiculous parade that concluded not two hours ago. Where she was showcased to the city as if they didn’t know her from the rumors, the insinuations that she and the late Captain… The parade to make her promotion official, following the deaths of the Captain and Vice-Captain. The parade, which was an enormous waste of time but, she was assured, was vital to the morale of the commoners.

“War waits for no man,” Lowma says, then smiles in the greasiest way possible. “For no lady, either. The grassies are sending envoys about the peace negotiations. We’ll be dealing with the Karayan representative ourselves, but we’d prefer the lizardman representative not be seen prowling the streets of the city. Don’t want a diplomatic incident if our dear citizens mistook them for a monster and chased them with torches and pitchforks.”

Chris wonders if he’d have more respect for them if he had to stand down a charge of lizardman suits. Would he think them savage if he saw the elegant and deadly beauty of their suits and their huge axes, their long and devastating tails? She guesses it wouldn’t help them. Not all knights learn respect from their travails.

“And you want me to…?”

“Catch them at Brass Castle. We’ve already sent word ahead that any lizardmen are to be detained at the border. Not harmed, of course. But held.”

Chris feels her hand twitch toward the hilt of her sword but she stops it, keeps it safely out of view behind her back. She had just been confirmed as Captain but already the Council was issuing orders. She takes a breath. They have the right, technically, even if they never would have taken the liberty with her predecessor.

“I’ll leave immediately,” she says, happy at least for the excuse to cut the rest of the meeting short. She turns and moves toward the door, Louis a step behind her.

“Oh, and _Captain_,” Lowma says, and the word carries with it the edge of mockery. “You’re new so we will excuse that you might not be aware of the complexities of Zexen rule. But the Council must be kept aware at all times of the situation concerning the grassies. You might be the sword and shield that keep Zexen safe, but the Council is the hands that wield them. Don’t forget that.”

Chris doesn’t stop, too afraid if she stops she’ll run the man through.

She hits the streets and makes directly for the port.

“Shouldn’t you be informing the rest of the knights about your plans to travel?” Louis asks.

Chris scowls. The young man is too observant by half.

“I don’t need to mobilize half the knights for a task that the forces at Brass Castle have likely already taken care of,” she says. “We can settle this matter ourselves and give the rest of the knights a chance to rest. They’ve barely gotten a chance to catch their breaths since the deaths of the Captain and Vice-Captain.”

“And you’ve gotten less still,” Louis says. “The Council didn’t say that you had to leave immediately. Surely it can wait for tomorrow.”

Chris doesn’t want to say that she doesn’t want to stay in the city. That her home is just a reminder of the emptiness she feels there. The absence. In Brass Castle, in her offices there, she can feel occupied, useful, connected. Forgetting at least that her offices are now the Captain’s offices, and her responsibilities are suddenly much larger than they had been. Still, it’ll be a welcome respite from the pageantry and politics of Vinay del Zexay.

She doesn’t answer Louis further, and doesn’t have to as they come into view of the knight’s suit yard. Her own gleaming silver suit, with its razor-keen sword and long white braid, stands out among the dirtier, bulkier models favored by most of the knights. She deflates, though, as she sees what else is standing out among the other suits. A group of five men, all still wearing their dress armor.

“I suppose you got a message to them?” Chris asks.

“Not me,” Louis says, and damn him he sounds genuine, if not surprised.

“Sir Chris,” Salome says, giving a small bow. “Please excuse my forwardness. I assumed news from the Council would concern the upcoming peace talks and that deployment would be imminent, so I took the liberty of gathering the rest of us.”

Chris would be angrier but she should have seen it coming. Complete lack of style aside, Salome is sharp, an excellent tactician, and intimately familiar with the politics of Zexen. A fine choice for Vice-Captain, and everyone’s assumption on who she’ll pick as her right hand.

“Kinda shitty of the Council to expect us to move out so soon after calling us back,” Borus says.

He fact that he’s boyishly pretty makes the harsh language seem almost incongruous, but Borus manages it in a petulant way. The son of a prominent banker, his fame is due to two main factors. First, he is deadly on the battlefield. And second, people get all wobble-kneed thinking about him and his paramour…

“I think what the oaf means is that we are of course willing to accompany you to Brass Castle,” Percival says. Despite his rustic upbringing on one of the agrarian worlds, he’s every inch the cultured Zexen knight, something that drives Borus absolutely batty most of the time.

“We live to serve,” Leo says, rounding out the opinions. Behind him, Roland says nothing, just nods his agreement.

The Six Mightly Zexen Knights. That’s what they call them. To Chris, though, it’s more than the name. They are siblings. Part of the same family forged with blood. What she wouldn’t do to shelter them from the storm that is coming. What they no doubt wouldn’t do to shelter her.

“Then let’s get going,” she says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we jump back to Chris. Her set up is interesting, as I've always appreciated how complicated the situation with the Zexen are in the game. Given the conspiracy, they are the closest the game gets to a villain in the opening chapters, and putting Chris in the middle of that is a great move. That said, her motivations are complicated, and I like that she...doesn't ever feel at ease with the Zexen court, despite being technically a noble. Anyway, it's a nice contrast to Hugo's situation and that's why I always typically start with the Hugo, Chris, Geddoe, Thomas rotation.
> 
> Stars seen: Chris, Louis, Borus, Percival, Leo, Roland


End file.
